Press



June 12, 1945. A. A. BYERLE lN PRESS Filed Sept. 17, '1942 5 Sheets-Sheet l June 12, 1945. A. A. BYERLEIN PRESS Filed Sept. .17, 1942 5 sheetssheet 2 June 12, 1945. A. A. BYERLEIN 2,378,062

PRESS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 1'7, 1942 aux/m June 12, 1945. A. A. BYERLEIN PRESS Filed Sept. 17, 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 June 12, 1945.

A. A. BYERLEIN PRESS Filed Sept. 17, 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 I gill/4,111 0 Patented June12,-1 945 UNITED sT Tss PATENT orncs PRESS I Arthur A. Bycrlein, Detroit, Mich., assignor to General Machinery Corporation, Ohio, a ccrporation of Delaware Hamilton,

Application September 17, 1942, Serial No. 458,686

Claims.

. have been used widely in industry, ranging from the small size and simple. stamping or punching presse for small objects up to quite enormous and involved mechanisms used for stamping or forming large and intricate products.

and more As illustrative of the latter are the mechanically operating presses for use in the making of products such as automobile bodies. In such presses. thinsheets of metal, which are 01' considerable size, are formed in the presses into the desired shape-the forming of suchsheets.

requiring either so-called stamping operations or drawing operations, or both. In the former type of operation the sheet is formed by stamping, while in the latter the sheet is held so that as the forming dies operate upon it it is caused to draw over the edges of the dies and to flow from between the holding members so as to give substantially uniform flowing of the sheet, under the operation of the press mechanism. With most automobiles, for example, the bodies are formed from sheets of steel approximating gauge in thickness (1.. e., approximately one twenty-fifth of an inch thick) and it has heretofore been common practice to have very large presses capable of handling a sheet of such dimensions that at least a whole quarter panel"- i. e., one-half of the whole rear of an automobile body-could be formed in one cycle of operation of the press, usually involving several drawing operations however. And in such operations the press mechanism must be such that the metal sheet could be caused to flow and formed into shapes requiringdrawing operations of a depth 10 or 12 inches or even more. This required quite large presses with very intricate operating mechanisms, capable of exerting enormous pressures and also capable of operating within the very narrow limits required to cause flowing of the thin sheet of metal into the intricate forms required without appreciably. varying the thickness of the sheet and without leaving any wrinkles -or rough spots which would immediately show up as defacing highlights when the auto- .mobile body is painted; and. of course, other forming problems are involved in the automobile and other industries in which equally large presses, capable of exerting tremendous iorces of manytonsare likewise used.

' and accurate operating mechanisms of great strength and power, presses of this character have been of the order of 30 to 40 feet high in over-all dimensions and with a bed 15 to 18 feet between uprights and as much as 7 or 8 feet deep.

And the operating mechanisms provided have been such as to carry out the operations necessary, for example such as the forming of a complete quarter panel with several drawing operations in the same direction and also reverse drawing operations, all performed in one cycle of the press, and under pressures -01E many ,hun dreds of tons, and with the mechanism nevertheless acting with such precision that the pieces would be so. formed that only a very small percentage would be so marred in formation as to equire any substantial amount of'hand finish- Presses of the character referred to are capable of forming operations over a very wide range I as to depth and complication of the forms produced, from the simplest shallow stamping operation to intricate involved reverse drawing operations. And of course the difficulties in constructing such presses for satisfactory operation I are greatly increased over those encountered in simple small stamping or formingpresses, even' though some of the latter are provided for exerting high pressures or somewhat complicated formings when using oomparatively small dies.

Also, in these very'large presses, with many operating parts required to exert enormous pressures and to produce products within close tolerances, the great size or the presses and the complexity of the mechanisms has made assembly of the presses a substantial job; and also repairs and maintenance is a somewhat difllcult 1 and dangerous job as the operating mechanism, including the drive motor andclutch and gears and links and the like, have been normally affixed to and carried by the press frame at the bottom with the power transmitted upwardly to an upper die slide,slidably guided between side uprights and constrained-to reciprocate by the guiding movement or the uprights; or this operating mechanism has been in large part mounted upon the top of the press frame or crown which bridged across the top of the pressand consisted of heavy members for tying the top of the press together and also for supporting all of these operating parts, with the upper die slide movably guided or reciprocably sliding upon the upright guides and with interconnecting links for transmitting the power to this .movable die slide. And in maintenance and repair it was necessary for the workmen to endeavor to effect the repairs while perilously working on top of this mechanism or to disassemble the neoa,s7s,oe2 a simple removal of certain pins the entire top I essary parts and lower them to the floor thus leaving the press inoperative until repairs could be effected. And in these presses the forces were normally transmitted in compression, as the operating mechanism exerted it forces against the crown and thence through linkage to the upper die slide which would thus be forced against the lower stationary die slide, and also to absorb these great forces exerted between the two Slides enormous bolts or tie rods were required for holding the crown in properly spaced position with respect to the bed which was accomplished by drawing the two parts together against opposite ends of the side and guide members.

Thepresent invention relates particularly to such larger presses for stamping and forming, and one of the principal objects of the invention is to provide such a press in which the extremely difiicult operating conditions referred to can be satisfactorily handled with a press having an over-all'height very much less than that heretofore used, and this object is obtained by providing a press in which all of the mechanism for operating a movable die slide is carried upon the die slide itself, and in which therefore the heavy crown or arch members which have heretofore been used can be entirely dispensed with. and in which alsothe construction is such that the entire movable slide member, with the operating mechanism, may be lifted bodily out of the press as by a crane and deposited on the floor when repair or'adiustment work, or assembly or disassembly of any of the parts, is required. Another object of the invention is to provide such a press in which the members which force one die member into forming relation with the other areat all times in tension during operation, thus preventing certain adverse or destructive tendencies, such as the tendency to bend, which are encountered where the pressure is exerted under compression which in turn would frequently be sufficient to derange the mechanism for adjusting the effective stroke of the movable die and which in turn would require replacement oi the adjusting screws forming part of the slide actuating members. In the present invention if the adjusting screws should be stretched somewhat under-unusually heavy load they will resume their regular length when relieved from the excessive tension, and unless so die slide and its operating mechanism and the;

slide and the mechanism carried by it can be removed for repair or replacement of parts at a'convenient time and place; and so that thus an extra top slideand operating mechanism unit may be, provided which can be put into position within a short time to thus provide a minimum of interruption in the operation of the press. This is an extremely important consideration inasmuch as in large quantity production the presses are usually arranged in line so that predetermined sequentlal operations are performed, beginning with the original sheet of metal and having each press perform its own special operation until the final product is completed in the last press of the line, so that stopping the operation of any one of the presses stops the whole production line, and any reduction in the time of stopping this whole production line is accompanied by very large advantages as to manufacturing costs and quantity of production.

It is another object of this invention to provide such a construction in which the movable tension members which cause its movement with respect to the other die, may be assembled sub? stantially as a ,unit in proper relation with each-v other, and extreme nicety of adjustment and assembly of each individualelement with respect to the other portions of the press is not required.

It is another object of the invention to pro-'- vide adjusting mechanism for the tension members of the movable slide in which the adjusting gears and the operating shafts therefor may be driven from one end without the torsion in the shaft being objectionable and without the necessityof providing such positioning and mounting of the operating motor and the; gears as to give substantially balanced drive to.= the several sets of gears which cause the adjustment.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings and the appended claims. 7

In the drawings, in which like characters of reference designate like parts throughout the several views thereof, is illustrated'a preferred embodiment of the invention, in which drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevaticnal view of such a construction;

Fig. 2 is an end view in elevation of the construction shown in Fig. 1;

overloaded as to cause permanent elongation or deformation such stretching during operation has no effect upon the adjustment mechanism. It is another object of the invention to provide such a press mechanism in which these tension members may be enclosed and protected from dirt to minimize or avoid freezing of the adjustlug nuts; it having been heretofore a not unusual occurrence for operating screws and adjusting nuts therefor in presses to become so affected as to freeze in which event the nuts frequentlyv .the operating mechanisms for moving one slide with respect to theother, so arranged that by Fig. 3 is a plan view of the press construction; Fig. 4 is a sectional view along the line 4--4 of ;Fig. 3, lcolring 'inthe direction of the arrows,

and with certain par-ts shown in dotted lines; Fig. 5 is a detail side elevational view'oi the movable die slide member with operating mechanism mounted thereon, and of the upright guidesthereior, with certain parts broken away to more clearly show the details of construction;

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view, along the line 5-4 of Figs. 4 and '7, and wlthcertain par-ts in elevation for clearer disclosure;

, Fig. '7 is a view looking down upon the press with certain parts shown in elevation and others shown in section along the line '|'I of Fig. 4;

Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view along the line 8-8 of Fig. 6; r

Fig. 9 is a sectional view through the press structure looking down upon the bed of the view alonz the line lO-lll of Fig. 5;

Fig. -11 is a detail vertical sectionalview, with r suitable air pressure can be transmitted through' as'raoea parts in elevation, along the line of Fig. Fig. 12 is a view partly inelevation and partly in section of the brake mechanism for the fbr wheel; and V Fig. 13 is a detail view, partly in section. of one of the telescopingcovers for the adjustable screws. I

In the preferred embodiment illustrated in the member which is suitably supported upon a concrete floor or upon other suitable foundation members; this bed having aflixed thereto, and

. extending upwardly, two upright members designated generally by the numeral 2|, and a movable die slide member which is constructed properly to reciprocate up and downin operation, within the upright members 2| which serve to resist or guide against tendency of the slide -to sidewise movement, such upper slide member being designated generally by the numeral 22, and

having suitable bolt receiving, or other means,

whereby'the die may be secured to the lower-face thereof.

The bed member 2|lis shown as .a hollow castins, which is adapted to receive a bolster plate designated by the numeral 30, this plate extending over the bed and being provided with suitable means, such as the usual bolt receivers, whereby the lower die member may be fastened thereto for operation. This lower die is mus:

trated in very simple, diagrammatic form, in Fig. l and designated by the numeral 23 the upper female die being correspondingly illustrated and designated by the numeral 24. This bolster plate has the center portion of its end walls inclined to cooperate with correspondingly inclined holding members 32, each of which in turn is pulled into tight wedging engagement with'the bolsterplate by means of bolts 33 which are suitably threaded into the. bed. If the press is desired to be used to effect drawing operations pressure cushions, such as the air cushions 34, are mounted and suitably. supported within the bed and below the bolster plate. Since these air cushions may be of any suitable conventional character, they are shown diagrammatically, as in Fig. 4, and 1 each of these air cushions is circumferentially illustrated by dotted lines in Fig. 9. The bolster plate has the usual large number of holes through it (several being indicated diagrammatically at 35. by dotted lines, in Fig. '4) for accommodating pins which in turn rest upon plates 36 each of which is in turn supported upon a movable portion of its corresponding pressure cushionso that these pins onto a proper draw ring or blank holder, or pressure control portion of the die members, or knock-out member, associated with the die parts. The pressure air may be supplied to these air cushions from a storage or surge tank, in'the usual way, through pipes 31 having the proper control mechanisms associated therewith. I j Each of the uprights 2 I, as shown, consists of a metal member generally U-shape in cross ection, shown as a casting, and-which is provided at the bottom and at opposite side thereof with bolt.

holes through which the bolts 40 pass, which bolts serve to hold the uprights connected to the bed structure of the press. 1 As shown in Fig. 8 there are 3 of these bolts at each corner of each of the upright guides 2 The operating mechanism for the movable slide member 22 is such that the mechanism itself tends to impart-to the slide straight line reciprocation during operation, with v only moderate side thrusts, resulting principally from the power transmitting members: and these members 2| therefore neednot assume considerable side thrust or guiding forces in connection with the reciprocation of the movable die slide and a the exerting of the required tremendous pressures drawings, the press is shown as comprising a bed fore been used in former presses of the character between the die members as the forming operation is completed. And, as shown, these upright.

slide members can be connected at the lower end thereof to the bed by bolts which-are of a length which is quite small when compared with the ponderous tierods andbolts which have heretoreferred to to connectthe bed with the crown or arch member at the top and with the side frame members which space them. ,And because of this-short length, and also becauseof using a plurality of bolts, the over-all cross-section may be substantially lesswithout any loss in resistance of the bolt tothe operating forces exerted upon them. The tie bolts as heretofore used were required to absorb the entire working pressure of the press since the operating mechanism was such that in completing a press cycle the reacting forces would be exerted respectively against the bed and the crown or arch and it has not been unusual in large presses of the character referred to to have such tie rods each of which is as much as 20feet in length and 8 or more inches in diameter (with correspondingly large nuts),-

either shrunk into place, or with the tie 'rods pretensioned under pressure of many hundreds of V be as adequately tons in the manner described in patent to A. A. Byerlein No. 1,872,115 dated August 16, 1932. But by using these much shorter bolts and a plurality of them as shown herein the working forces may taken care of with the use of much smaller and less expensive bolts and nuts,

which also may be much more easily handled in assembly, pre-tensioning, etc.

As shown clearly in Figs". 4, 6, 8 and 9 each upright 2| has an inwardly extending portion at the bottom, which is designated bythe numeral 2| and which is formed to rest upon the top of the bed. At each side of this bottom portion 2| serving to hold the uprights 2|- firmly ailixed to the bed of the press. And it is these bolts which bear the working load during reciprocation of the upper die slide 22; but since the construction of this press is such that the working forces during a forming operation of the slide are transmitted in tension through the connecting mechanisms which cause movement of the upper die slide with respect to the bed, it is unnecessary to have the tremendous crown or arch members and large tie rods, and the bolts 40 need be only suilicient to hold the uprights2i properly in position, to I withstand the comparatively small side thrusts which are encountered during operation, and to withstand the operating forces during the drawing or stamping operation, as described. However, the upper endsof these uprights are, pref-- erably connected by means of cross bars or rods, shown as flat steel bars 4| each of which is suit.- ably connected at its opposite ends to the upper ends of the two uprights 2|. These cross bars may and the lower is pulled be easily connected and disconnected and when in place will be entirely out of the way of the operating mechanisms and will provide resistance located at the upper part of the member, and carrying a-g-uide surface M each of which cooperates with a guide surface 45 carried by the cooperating end of the upper slide member, which end is designated by the numeral 46, there being likewise guide surfaces 44' and 45' at each side of the slide and members 21 the cooperating faces of which are at right angles to the corresponding faces of parts 44 and l5this mechanism serving to give some guiding crossways and fore and aft to the slide in its reciprocation and to hold it within its proper path with respect to forces which might tend to move it from its normal path of reciprocation.

The intermediate part of each member II at each side thereof also carries an inwardly extending portion 50 which has connected to it, by bolts, a guide member 5| which provides a bearing sur-. face for the upper end of its associated adjusting screw 60, to take the side thrust which arises during operation. As shown, the upper end of each adjusting screw 60 carries a block 52, which is held in place by bolts 53. This block 52 also has attached to it a guide member 54, attached to the block 52 by bolts 55, and this member in turn cooperates with the guiding surface upon the guide member 5|, which is of sufficient extent to receive the block 52 and guide member it throughout the entire range of adjustment of the adjusting screw 60.

As shown, there are four of these adjusting screws 60, eachof which is threaded throughout a substantial portion thereof, and the lower threaded end of each of which extends through an opening in the portion 2| and carries adjusting nut 6 I, which nut in turn is rotatably mounted within a member 62, which member in turn is connected to the bottom of an of a plurality of bolts 53. Since the inwardly extending portions 2| of then be satisfactorily accomplished by placing hydraulic jacks onthe bed and exerting pressure on the upper slide 22. When the predetermined maximum limiting pressure is exerted the uprights will be slightly lifted due to the stretching of the bolts ll! thus providing a small space between the bottom portion 2| of the uprights and the top of the bed. Suitable shims are then insorted to fill this space, and when the pressure on therefore the adjustment of the parts when once properly attained will remain substantially constant. Of course if the press should be subjected to an extraordinary and undesirable pressure, ex-

ceeding the maximum pressure under which the bolts 69 are preloaded, this construction permits of the bolts extending an additional amount thus preventing destruction of the slide, or the bed or bearing in its supporting member 62 but extends upright by means i the uprights 2! are held afllxed to the bed of the press by means of the bolts 40, and the adjusting screws which carry the operating forces in tension are supported in the nuts it which in turn are supported in the members i2, so that the nuts the other major portions of the press which would be comparatively costly to replace.

The outer side of each nut 8! is provided with threads which mesh with a worm '65, there being one of theseworms for driving connection with each of the nuts 6| and,830h0f these worms being connected upon one end of a shaft designated generally 66. There are two of these shafts 66 each. of which extends along one side of the bed. As shown in Fig. 9, one end of each of these shafts has proper bearing in the cooperating member 62 and the other end likewise has proper theret-hrough and carries at its free endand at one end of the press a bevel gear 61' which meshes with a corresponding bevel gear 68 which in turn is mountedvupon a shaft 69 rotatably supported within suitable brackets at one end of the press and having intermediate of its length a gear 10 which in turn meshes with a suitable reduction gearing, indicate generally by the numeral fl, and driven by the adjusting motor ll. Since each of the worms 65 meshes with the corresponding thread of the worm gear upon the outside of the nut 6! a single motor, located at one end of the press, and a single adjusting shaft 89 at one end of the press for completing actuation of these adjusting nuts may be satisfactorily used. That is, by using worms meshing with correspondingly cut threads, the eflect of torsion in the shafts 66, during operation of adjustment, is effectively minimized and in this way such torsion as will 6| when under operating tension bear against.

the lower face of the inwardly extending portions 2|, as a result the operating loads are thus transmitted to and carried by the plurality of bolts 40,

which in the aggregate must necessarily be sufllproduce angular movement of the order of 10% of one end of the shaft with respect to the other will have no objectionable or adverse effect upon nut adjustment. Great care has been exercised in the past, using other gear. arrangements, so as to locate the adjusting motor-substantially adjaciently strong to withstand these entire tension r operating loads but which nevertheless because of the construction described will be'of quite short length and comparatively small diameter as compared with the large tie rods heretofore used in presses intended to perform similar operations. In assembling the press it is deslrabletbat these bolts 40 be pretensioned in the manner described in patent to A. A. Byerlein No. 1,872,115 above referred to. v Inetfecting such pretensloning in the construction described, theuprights are flrstfestened in place by means of the bolts ll and the nuts ll are then tightened in the usual manner; The

prcloading or pretensioning of thcbolts ll can cent the center of the actuating shaft, and to provide such driving mechanism as to evenly divide the torsional effects so as to secure the desired accuracy in operations. But by using the construction above described, with a worm gear and cooperating threads, the effect of torsion can be so overcome that the very substantial degree of torsion referred to can be encountered without adverse effect on nut adjustment and therefore the construction of the press can be greatly simplifled and cheapened by providing a single drive motor at one end of the shaft, with a single cross shaft having bevelled gears 'at its ends to drive one end of each of the adjusting shafts and without the necessity of the expensive equalized drives No. 1,827,558 dated October 13, 1931) and with the use of considerably smaller shafts than heretofore utilized and without effecting its satisfacf tory operating characteristics.

end of the shaft section 18 and the gear carrying shaft I0, and the other of which serves to connect the other end of'the shaft portion I6 to the portion I5. This construction is such that by loosening each set screw each coupling may be slid to one side to lie completely within the extent of the shaft portion 18, and thus permit ,ready insertion and withdrawal of that shaft portion.

Also, as illustrated in Fig. 9, the nut 8| is plit and the-two portions of the nutare so formed that when in operative position the two edges do not touch and space is thus provided at each side to contain lubricant. Because the nut is split it can be readily removed from the screw and repaired incase any of the-threads should seize 'or become damaged; whereas if the nut wereof one piece and should seize it might become necessary'to destroy .the nut to remove it from the screw, and perhaps to damage the adjusting screw also-a condition which has frequently arisen in the past in connection with large ad- 1 justing nuts and screws carrying heavyloads, as

used in large machinery of this character.

The beveled" driving g'ears'i'l and 00 areenclosed within a metallic cover indicated by the.

numeral 80,which protects them from injury,

from the accumulation of dirt, etc., and which may be readily removed for access to these gears.

The-upper end of each adjusting screw 80 carries a pivot pin 85, the opposite ends of. which are mounted in the bifurcated yoke portion which constitutes the upper end 00 of each adjustins screw 80. Also pivotally mounted upon this pin BI is thelower end of a connecting rod member 81, the upper end of which carries aneccentric strap 08 --in the embodiment shown in the drawing there being four adjusting screws and-four of these eccentrically operated connecting rods. Each of these connecting rods 01 is actuated by an eccentric 90, mounted within its associated 9|, which issuitably journalled at its opposite ends upon the upper face of the slide 22.

Referring to Fig. 1, in which the construction is shown somewhat generally, the slide 22 is given proper reciprocating motion from the power asvaoea necessary to show the details of construction of Y this clutch and itsoperating mechanism. When it is desired to cause movement of the slide 22,

and the die carried thereby, toward the bed and the die carried thereby, the clutch is actuated into engaged position and the rotary motion of the fly wheel 98 is thereby transmitted to the shaft 91. This shaft, as shown more particularly in Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 11, carries a gear I00 which drives two sets of gear trains, in synchronism, one for each side of the press.

I05.- Each of the gears I05 is mounted upon one end of one of the shafts SI, each of which shafts also carries thereon at one end one of the eccentries 80. A very satisfactory construction is ata tained when the gear I05. shaft 9| and eccentric 90 are integral as shown in detail in Fig. 10.

-. Rotation of the gear I00, therefore, transmits power through the'chain of gears as described to the shafts 9|, located at the left hand side of the slide 22 and as these shafts rotate the eccentrics 80 cause the slide 22 to move up and down in substantially straight line motion, the connecting rod 81, oscillating about the pivot or wrist pin".

As thus constructed the slide normally has straight line motion and any deviations in'opera tion are readily resisted by the several pairs of guides "-45 and 40-45,- and there is comparatively smallside thrust at the upper end of th adjusting screws which are afllxed to'the bed, and such side thrust as there is is readily taken care of by the guide members heretofore described.

' Likewise, the two eccentrics and associated connectingrods at thexright hand side of the press are correspondingly actuated by means of a chain of gears-the power being transmitted from the gear I00 to a cooperating gear H0 and thence through the gear III to the gear II2 which is carried upon the same shaft as the gear III and in turn to the gear III the shaft of which carries at each end a gear Ill each of which meshes with a gear I05 which in turn eccentric strap, and each carried" by a cross shaft actuates an eccentric and thus causes reciproeating actuation of the right hand end oi'the transmitting mechanism which comprises a slide in" the manner heretofore described, the two ends of the slide being thus actuated in timing to give proper and substantiallystraight line motion with the side thrust at all four wrist pin connections being taken care of in the manner described. 7

Asia usual in presses of this character the clutch-may be caused to'eng ge by the actuation in the surface of the flywheel member, the

iiy wheel in turn being mounted upon a drive shaft, from which "shaft, by means of suitable gear trains, rotary motion is transmitted to the eccentric shafts II to thus clutch mechanism and cause reciprocatory motion of the slide 22.

As shown the fly wheel runs freely on shaft 81 and carries one portion of the clutch mechanism designated generally by the numeral 00 and whichis'not illustrated in detail as it may be of suitable type, such as the usual disk type used in transmitting heavy loads. It is believed un-' of suitable handoperated mechanism such as the electrical switch illustrated diagrammatically and indicated by the numeral I20. Upon actuation'of this switch, which may be merely-a manually operated button, a solenoid is energized which operates a valve to admit air through the passage I00 in the center of the shaft 81 which admits air to suitable pressure cylinder mechamain to cause engagement of the disks or plates of the clutch. These clutch plates which are located in the clutch mechanism designated generally by the numeral 08, are connected toother disks within the portion generally designated I" (For purposes of 54 andtl as tary movable die slide and power transmitting mechanism and as the clutch disks move into engagement the disks of the brake are thus disengaged. Conversely when the action is reversed to disengage the clutch disks, the brake disks are caused to engage to bring the slide and its associated mechanism to a stop. In this way the brake is always positively engaged until such time as the clutch is engaged, and consequently safety in operation of the press is insured. Also I in order to provide for more definite and certain actuation of the parts in operation of the press,

a pressure air tank I40 is provided which supplies an excess of pressure air'over that required to cause actuation of the clutch so that immediately upon opening of the valve air will rush into the pressure cylinders of the clutch to cause prompt and positive actuation of the clutch and disengagement of the brake. By utilization of this tank air may be stored, and supplied to the clutch from time to time as required, to ive the necessary volume of pressure air for satisfactory operation of the clutch and brake mechanisms.

In order to insure satisfactory, and also completely safe, operation of the press it is preferable that a limit "switch be provided, indicated generally by the numeral NI which switch is shown as driven from a suitable sprocket wheel through the chain I42, which also is operatively engaged with a sprocket wheel upon one of the shafts 9I, as indicated by the numeral I 43. By means of this construction, as the press slide 22 moves back to its upper dead center position the rotation of the shaft 9|, through the sprocket switch to move the solenoid operated control to bring the slide to rest at substantially upper dead center.

As stated the fly wheel normally turns freely on its shaft. At times it is desired to stop this fly wheel, as when anew die is used which requires reversal of the fly wheel rotation. For this a brake mechanism is provided, as shown in detail in Fig. 12, whereby a braking member may be applied and held firmly against the fly wheel to prevent actuation thereof during such time. As shown in Fig. 10 a brake shoe 150 is provided, having a suitable braking surface for contact with the face or the fly wheel 96. This brake shoe is pivotally connected to one end of a rock member I5I the other end of which is pivotally connected to a supporting member I52, which is shown as a supporting lug formed upon a pressure operating cylinder mechanism I53, and

which in turn is supported upon the slide memher and in rigid relationship with respect to the other associated operating parts. This member II53 comprises a cylinder I5l having a brake operating piston ISS-therein, which carries a pis-' I tonrod extending upwardly through the cylinder head and into' contact with a projection I56 carried by the pivgted link I5I so that as thepiston moves up under pressure the link I5I is rocked to force the: brake shoe I50 against the fly wheel and hold it against rotation. The

-' cylinder I55, below the piston, is connected to a suitable source of pressure fluid, such as pressure air. This pressure air is supplied to and exhausted from beneath the piston through suitable pipeand operating valve mechanism which may be manually operated, and which may be of -wheels and chain, causes actuation of the limit which forms the brake mechanism for the uniany suitable construction and is therefore which, designated by the numeral IE6 is of the largest diameter and is provided with'a flange IGI whereby it may be connected by bolts to the bottom of the enlarged yoke member 88. As shown four of these telescoping guards are provided, which-are ofprogressively'decreasing diameter and the bottom one of which is designated by the numeralI63 and is likewise provided with a flange I64 which is connected by suitable bolts to the lower part 2I of the upright guides. The upper guard member I50 is provided with an in-turned flange ingits lower end I55, and the intermediate guard member I66 is provided with an internal flange I61 at its lower end and an external flange IE8 at its upper end, the next intermediate guard member I69 being provided with an external flange H8 at its upper end. By means of this arrangement the guard members are permitted to telescope freely on down movement of the slide 22, and are caused to extend, through the inter-action of the flanges referred to, on up movement. Thus dirt is prevented from clogging or gaming the threads on the adjusting screw, and the threads are likewise prevented from-being damaged as a result of accidental blows during operation of the mechanism. Also the bed structure is provided with an opening I12, in line with the adjusting screws, 7

and of sufficient diameter to freely pass the end of the adjustment screw when it is adjusted toward lower position. Attached to the bottom of this portion Ill, by suitable bolts, and in alignment with the opening I12 is a cup shaped cover I13 which serves to permit the desired lowering of the end of the screw, in the operation of the press, and also serves to protect the screw from accumulating dirt, grease, etc.

As shown, for example in Fig. 4, the upper slide, at each end, has attached thereto a rod I90, the lower end of which carries a piston ISI which is slidable in the cylinder I92, the lower end of which is connected by the pipe I93 to a suitable source of air supply, as to a surge tank, this mechanism serving as a counterbalance for the slide and to assist in upward movement thereof.

By means of the construction above described,

' which eliminates the usual crown and side members of the press frame and the large tie rods referred to, and providing a unitary slide with power transmitting mechanism with link for connection to adjusting screws which are afiixed to the bed all the interference which isencountered in the older construction of presses referred to as between tie rods and gearing and other operating parts of the mechanism is eliminated. In other words the construction described is such that the entire power transmittingmechanism and the mechanism associated therewith which supports the movable slide and said, slide are self-contained and do not require connection or attachment to any of the other parts of the press asvaoca above the bed and this gives substantially 100% freedom in designing and arranging the. power transmission and driving mechanism and the supporting linkage connected therewith. And as a result it is unnecessary to have that nicety of adjustment and' relative arrangement of parts which was formerly required in order to secure satisfactory operations. For example, the present invention permits of assembling the movable slide and the power transmitting mechanism including the eccentric strap connecting rods and the adjustable screw connecting members as a unitary assembly and fitting it as such into place upon the press bed, the passages 200 through which the adjusting screws extend and move during adjustment being larger than the screws so that theparts may be readily put in place and without any extreme 'nicety of adjustment or accurate fitting with respect to the bed. By this arrangement this unitary assembly can be connected in generally correct place uponrthe bed and affixed there by tighteningthe several bolts 40 to holdthe adjusting nuts for the adjusting connecting screws properly affixed to the. up-

Y rights 2| and the bed. And likewise by providing openings with substantial tolerance the upright members 2| with the connecting cross bars 4| thus can be assembled as aunit and put into place and brought into proper relationship so that the several guide portions will be in' proper operative positioning with respect to the guides upon the movable slide and with the side thrust plates 54 at the upper end of the adjustable rods or screws 80. To illustrate the practical effect, the centers of the pivot or wrist pins 85 could be out of line with the centers of the corresponding driving pins SI of theeccentrics as much as an eighth or one quarter of an inch and the mechanism still would function satisfactorily.

. Furthermore, this construction permits of a ready modification in the power transmitting and operating mechanism, and permits of a wide range of sizes in the press, both across the press and fore and aft. Also the power transmitting mechanism can readily be so arranged that the eccentrics for the connecting links are arranged transversely to the arrangement of the preferred embodiment illustrated'in the drawings, and in this way a press with a narrow slide, but nevertheless adequately supported at each end. and with the forces applied under tension rather than compression as above described, canbe provided'and the diiilculties heretofore encountered in narrow slidepresses using a single center drive. for the slide, such as a crank shaft and connecting rod, can be avoided.

For clearer illustration the power transmitting mechanism and associated parts mounted on top of the movable slide. are shown as exposed; but, as indicated diagrammatically by dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2 a suitable cover may be provided and afllxed to the movable slide member to completely enclose the operating mechanism carried thereby. Or the uprights 2| maybe made to extend higher and the cross bars "may be made so wide as to completely enclose and conceal the upper. slide and the mechanism thereon, and the cover dispensed with} And the bed may be provided with intumed projections or lugs having passages therethrough to receive the lower ends of the adjusting screws 80, the nuts 8! thus bearing against the lower faces of these projections or lugs so that the, work forces in tension will be borne directly by the bed, instead of being transmitted against the portions II of the uprights In such'arrangement the nuts would be within housings attached to the bed to support the weight of the upper slide and its associated parts.

While the form of apparatus herein described constitutes a preferred embodiment of the invention, it. is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise form of apparatus, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope ofthe invention which is defined in the appended'claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A power press of the character described having a stationary die carrying bed, connecting rods afllxed to said bed and extending upwardly therefrom, a movable die carryin slide member, power supplying mechanism mounted upon and movable with said slide member, and power transmitting oscillatable links each connected at one end to one of said connecting rodsand at the other end to said power supplying mechanism.

2. Av power press of the-character described having a stationary die carrying bed, adjustable connecting rods affixed to said bed and extending upwardly therefrom, means for effecting adjustment of said connecting rods, a movable die carrying slide member, power supplying mechanism-mounted upon and movable with said slide member, and power transmitting oscillatable links each connected at one end to one of said connecting rods and at the other end to said .power supplying mechanism.

3. A power press of the character described comprising a stationary die carrying bed, connecting rods affixed to said bed and extending upwardly therefrom, members extending upwardly from said bed, a movable die carrying slide member movable within said upwardly extending members, power supplying mechanism mounted upon and movable with said slide member, and

transmitting links each pivotally connected at one end or said connecting rods and at the other end to said power supplying mechanism by means converting rotary motion to reciprocatory motion.

4. A power press of the character described comprising a stationary die carrying bed, adjustable connecting rods amxed to said bed, a movable die carrying slide, power supplying mechanism mounted upon and movable with said slide member and including a power source and eccentries and means for operatively connecting said power source to said eccentrics, and power transmitting links each pivotally connected at one end to one of said connectingrods and at its other end provided with an eccentric strap mounted upon one of said eccentrics.

5.'A power press of the character described comprisingv a stationary die carrying bed, adjustable connecting rods amxed-to said bed and extending upwardly therefrom, a movable die carrying slide, power supplying" mechanism.

' mounted upon and movable with said slide and including a power source, and eccentrics and means for operatively connecting [said power source to said eccentrics, power transmitting links each pivotally connected at one end to one of sa connecting rods and at its other end provided with an eccentric strap mounted upon one of said eccentrics. and members extending upwardly-from said bed and cooperating with the upper pivotally connected ends of said connecting rods to counteract the side thrusts thereof I during operation .of the press. g

' having a stationary die carrying bed, adjustable connecting rods affixed to said'bed, a movable \die carrying slide, power supplying mechanism including oscillatable links mounted upon and movable with said slide member to travel therewith during operation and operable to cause movement of said members toward and away from each other, and means cooperating with said adjustable connecting rods for causing adjustment of said rods with respect to the bed to adjust the setting of said movable die carrying slide.

'7. Apower press of the character described having a stationary die carrying bed, adjustable connecting rods aifixed to said bed, a movable die carrying slide, power supplying mechanism mounted upon and movable with said slide member to travel therewith during operation and operable to cause movement of said members toconnecting the cross supporting members and associated upwardly extending outward members into a unitary structure, means to affix said unitary structure to the stationary die carrying bed, a movable die carrying slide-member, power supplying mechanism mounted upon and movable with said slide member, and members connecting said power supplying mechanism to said power transmitting members to support and cause reciprocatory movement of the die slide member to and from the bed upon operation of the power supplying mechanism, said unitary upwardly extending member and means for aflixing it to said Ward and away from each other, and means coopcrating with said adjustable connecting rods for causing adjustment of said rods with respect to the bed to adjust the setting of said movable die carrying slide, said means comprising a split adjusting nut internally threaded to receive said adjustable connecting rods and externally threaded for driving connection with an adjusting gear.

8.4 power press of the character described having a stationary die carrying bed, adjustable connecting rods aflixedto said bed, a movable die 7 carrying slide, power supplying mechanism mounted upon and movablewith said slide member to travel therewith during operation and 0D- erable to cause movement of saidsmembers toward and away from each other, means cooperating with said adjustable connecting rods for causing adjustment of said rods withrespect to the bed ing a stationary die carrying bed, adjustable connecting rods aflixed to said bed, a movable die carrying slide, power supplying mechanism mounted upon and movable with said slide member to bed being constructed to afiix said unitary member to surround the upper slide and supporting and operating mechanism, and means carried by said upwardly extending unitary member and constructed to cooperate with the supporting and operating mechanism for the slide member to counteract side thrust thereof.

11. A power press of the character described comprising a stationary die carryingbed, adjustable connecting rods aiiixed to said bed, a movable die carrying slide, power supply mechanism mounted upon and movable with said slide member and including a power source and oscillatalble power transmitting links and means for converting rotary motion into reciproeatory motion and including means connected to said power transmitting links, each power transmitting link being pivotall connected at one end to one of said adjustable connecting rods and at its other end to said pivotal link connecting means forming part of the power supplying mechanism.

12. A stamping or drawing press of the character described comprising a die carrying bed member, adjustable power transmitting members afllxed to said bed, and a movable die carrying travel therewith during operation and operable to cause movement of said members toward andaway from each other, means cooperating with said adjustable connecting rods for causing adjustment of said rods with respect to the bed'to adjust the setting, of said movable die carryin slide, and telescopic members surrounding said adjustable rods and comprising a plurality of slide member, power supply mechanism mounted 13. A forming press of the character described comprising a stationary die carrying bed member, adjustable connecting rods aflixed to said bed, a removable die carrying slide, power supplying mechanism mounted upon and movable with said slide and including a power source, power transmitting links each pivdtally connected at one end to one of said connecting rods and at the other end to said power supplying mechanism by means converting rotary motion to reciprocatory motion,

members extending upwardly from said bed and cooperating with said connecting rods and linknections during operation of the press.

vented from collecting in the adjusting means to cause injury tom disabling of said means.

10. A power press of the character described comprising a stationary die carrying bed, power transmitting members aflixed to and extending upwardly from said bed, members extending up- -wardly from said bed and located outwardly of said power transmitting members and cross supporting members connecting the upper ends of said upwardly extending members and means for 14. A forming press of the ch'aracten described comprising a bed, a unitary movabledie; slide and power supplying mechanism, and linkage afilxed line reciprocation 01; said slide member when the operating power i supplied-to said linkage from i said power supplying mechanism, and members extending upwardly from said bed and cooperating with said linkage to counteract side thrust of the linkage during operation of the press.-

15. For use in a power press of the character described, a unitary movable die slide and power supplying mechanism comprising a Slide member 1 mechanism carried by the slide by means for translating rotary into reciprocatory motion and at the other end having a pivotal connecting means constructed to receive a fixed power transmitting and supporting member, whereby said unitary die slide and power supplying mechanism may be. operativel supported in and removed from said press as a unit by effecting connection or disconnection at said pivotal connecting means.

ARTHUR A. BYERLEIN. 

